Baku, Azerbaijan, June 12
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
As of April 1, Bahar Energy Limited, which is engaged in development of Azerbaijan's Bahar-Gum Deniz oil and gas block in the Caspian Sea, reduced capital expenditures by 30 percent, a source in Azerbaijan’s oil and gas market told Trend June 12.
If in 2017, capital expenditures amounted to about $2 million, as of April 1, 2018, this figure was only about $1.4 million, according to the source.
The reduction in capital expenditures in the first quarter of 2018 is due to the reimbursement of expenditures by SOCAR Oil Affiliate (a subsidiary of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, which owns a 20 percent stake in the PSA) and the slow launch of the capital program due to delays in supplies and inclement weather, the source said.
The source noted that operating expenditures decreased 20 percent and amounted to $5 million.
This is due to the reimbursement of part of the expenditures by SOCAR, as well as lower costs for staff, insurance and rent, the source added.
Administrative expenditures for the first quarter of 2018 amounted to $1.2 million, which is 88 percent more than in the first quarter of 2017, the source noted, adding that the increase in the administrative expenditures is related to ongoing studies of reservoir modeling and corporate initiatives.
A contract for exploration, rehabilitation, development and production at Bahar and Gum Deniz was signed by Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR (20 percent) and Bahar Energy (80 percent) in 2009. Bahar field, developed since 1969, is located in 40 kilometers southeast of Baku.
The 100 percent shares of the operating company Bahar Energy Limited belongs to the US Greenfields Petroleum.
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